Famed psychiatrist Keith Ablow was just in Newburyport, MA, to meet the family of Justina Pelletier, a 15-year-old girl with symptoms — whether they are psychosomatic or physiological is disputed — that make it difficult for her to walk and eat.

Ablow had dinner at the restaurant Ten Center Street with the girl’s parents, Lou and Linda Pelletier, who have been fighting the state of Massachusetts for more than a year for the release of their daughter from Boston Children’s Hospital.

The doctor has taken the position publicly that the state has violated their parental rights, but this was the first time they had ever met.

Given Ablow’s history of teaming up with top Boston attorneys in big cases, look for him to join the fray in a big way.

Asked what about the dinner conversation, Ablow told me, “It was about a family being shattered by the state trampling upon their rights and the rights of their daughter.”